Acta Botanica Brasilica - 34(2): 409-429. April-June 2020. doi: 10.1590/0102-33062019abb0411 Brazilian tropical dry forest (Caatinga) in the spotlight: an overview of species of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces (Eurotiales) and the description of P. vascosobrinhous sp. nov. Renan do Nascimento Barbosa1* , Jadson Diogo Pereira Bezerra2 , Ana Carla da Silva Santos1, 3 , Roger Fagner Ribeiro Melo1 , Jos Houbraken4 , Neiva Tinti Oliveira1 and Cristina Maria de Souza-Motta1 Received: December 26, 2019 Accepted: May 7, 2020 . ABSTRACT A literature-based checklist of species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Talaromyces recorded in the Brazilian tropical dry forest (Caatinga), the largest tropical dry forest region in South America, is provided. A total of 130 species (60 Aspergillus, 57 Penicillium, and 13 Talaromyces) are reported. Soil was the most common substrate, with 122 species records. Various reported species are well known in biotechnological processes. This checklist reflects the limited knowledge of fungal species in tropical dry environments. These data provide a good starting point for biogeographical studies on species of Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Talaromyces in dry environments worldwide. In addition, the new species Penicillium vascosobrinhous is introduced, an endophytic fungus isolated from cactus of the Caatinga forest in Brazil. Keywords: ascomycetes, Aspergillaceae, biodiversity, conservation, Trichocomaceae forest in South America, and it has a substantial diversity Introduction of plants (about 123 families are reported), mammals, fish, insects, amphibians, and recently its fungal diversity Brazil harbors the largest biodiversity in the world, has been studied from several substrates and hosts (Leal including biomes regarded as hotspots for the biological et al. 2003; Maia et al. 2015; Silva et al. 2017). The climate diversity assessment and conservation (Françoso et al. in the Caatinga forest is semiarid with irregular rains and 2015; Frehse et al. 2016; Molotoks et al. 2018). Some elevated temperatures. On a global scale, Caatinga is part vegetational types/biomes, and the extent of uniqueness of the seasonally dry tropical forests, a global biome that in the ecological complexity it harbors, are exclusive to was not recognized by the scientific community as distinct Brazil, such as the Atlantic Forest and the two Brazilian until a few years ago (Santos et al. 2011). tropical dry forests named “Cerrado” and “Caatinga”. Fungi can occupy almost every habitat on Earth, and The Brazilian semiarid is one of the most important dry like many other taxonomic groups, most of their diversity landscapes in the world, with about 24 million people, is found in the tropics (Aime & Brearley 2012). However, equivalent about 12 % of the Brazilian population (Alvalá many substrates still need to be examined in order to improve et al. 2019). The Caatinga forest is the largest tropical dry the knowledge on the fungal biodiversity and functional 1 Departamento de Micologia Professor Chaves Batista, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, 50670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil 2 Setor de Micologia, Departamento de Biociências e Tecnologia, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74605-050, Goiânia, GO, Brazil 3 Universidade Federal do Agreste de Pernambuco, 55292-270, Garanhuns, PE, Brazil 4 Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands * Corresponding author: [email protected] Diagramação e XML SciELO Publishing Schema: www.editoraletra1.com.br Renan do Nascimento Barbosa, Jadson Diogo Pereira Bezerra, Ana Carla da Silva Santos, Roger Fagner Ribeiro Melo, Jos Houbraken, Neiva Tinti Oliveira and Cristina Maria de Souza-Motta diversity, especially those that cannot be cultivated or that of threatened species and their habitats, as well as providing are little known (Blackwell 2011). According to Maia et data for ecological/biogeographical predictive modeling of al. (2015), the Brazilian fungal diversity is represented exotic species, both at the landscape level and hence, enable by 5,719 species, distributed over 1,246 genera and 102 this knowledge to be effectively considered in overall global orders. The Caatinga forest had 999 fungal species recorded, conservation strategies. demonstrating an underexplored diversity when considering Considering the relevance of checklists as important the fungal richness of endophytes, soil and plant decaying tools in taxonomy, systematics and conservation, especially fungi (e.g. Fiuza et al. 2017; Leão-Ferreira et al. 2017; Gusmão in poorly known biomes, this study aimed to summarize the et al. 2017; Barbosa et al. 2016; Bezerra et al. 2013; Cruz et records of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces species/ al. 2013a). The Caatinga forest is Brazil’s only large ecological names in the Caatinga tropical dry forest, by presenting an region that is not shared with any other country. For a long up to date list of valid species names, their substrate and time, the biodiversity of Caatinga was underestimated, which distribution. This paper contributes to close the knowledge resulted in decreased research funding when compared to gaps of the fungal diversity of Caatinga. In addition, a new other Brazilian ecoregions (Santos et al. 2011). species of Penicillium is described here based on phenotypic Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces (Eurotiales, and molecular data. Eurotiomycetes) are phenotypically diverse filamentous ascomycetes, encompassing species important to the environment and to several sectors of economy, such as Materials and methods biotechnology and medicine, causing significant social Study area impacts (Tsang et al. 2018). Species of these genera are ubiquitous and can be found in several substrates, such For this list, recorded data were compared with the as soil, vegetation, dung, as well as indoor and extreme cities included in the Caatinga biome of Northeast region environments (e.g. Visagie et al. 2014a; Yilmaz et al. 2014; of Brazil. This region includes the territory of nine Brazilian Chen et al. 2016; Barbosa et al. 2016; 2018; Diao et al. 2018). states (Fig. 1): Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Some of the most remarkable attempts in order to present Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe, a natural classification for these groups were presented including the area of the “drought polygon” (Ab’Saber 1974; by Houbraken & Samson (2011), Samson et al. (2011), Carvalho 1988). Visagie et al. (2014a) and Yilmaz et al. (2014). The number of species described in these genera increased rapidly in the Data collection last decade (e.g. Gonçalves et al. 2011; Guinea et al. 2015; Hubka et al. 2015; Visagie et al. 2015; Chen et al. 2016; An extensive literature review was made. It includes data Houbraken et al. 2016; Yilmaz et al. 2016; Wang et al. 2017; gathered on published papers and books up to December Barbosa et al. 2018; Frisvad et al. 2019). However, many 2019 issued in English and Portuguese. We located papers environments remain understudied and can house a large using the internet search engines Thomson Reuters’ ISI number of species to be discovered, especially in tropical Web of Science and Google Scholar, as well as by scanning regions (Hawksworth & Lücking 2017). bibliographies and reading books. With exception of Fungi are rarely considered in conservation actions, the online version of the List of Species of the Brazilian and the conservation of microfungi is even less addressed, Flora (Flora do Brasil 2020 em construção 2019 - http:// even though there is clear evidence that many of these floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/), information from websites species may be endangered as well (for further information and Masters/PhD dissertations were not considered. see www.cybertruffle.org.uk/darwin-microfungi.). A Unidentified taxa were not included (e.g. Aspergillus sp.). major development in the fungal conservation world This study was improved by invited experts who studied happened with the launch of the Global Fungal Red Data the Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces diversity on List Initiative (see http://iucn.ekoo.se/en/iucn/welcome). different substrates and habitats (e.g. soil, endophytic, Biodiversity checklists are main steps in providing relevant coprophilous). The used species names are based on biodiversity information for planning applications. Although the most recent taxonomic insights. These names were the inventory of fungi and fungus-like organisms lag mainly retrieved from the Index Fungorum and MycoBank behind those of animals and plants, the list is crucial for database, and the lists of accepted species in Samson et conservation, considering major threats, such as habitats’ al. (2014), Visagie et al. (2014a), Yilmaz et al. (2014), and fragmentation, degradation (pollution), exotic/invasive Frisvad et al. (2019). species and climate change (Heilmann-Clausen et al. 2015; Boddy 2015). It is particularly important to ensure Species description the production of a check list of species adapted to dry environments, such Caatinga, aiming to allow comparison The new species described here was collected as described between regions, enabling identification and prioritization by Bezerra et al. (2013). Morphological and molecular 410 Acta Botanica Brasilica - 34(2): 409-429. April-June 2020 Diagramação e XML SciELO Publishing Schema: www.editoraletra1.com.br Brazilian tropical dry forest (Caatinga) in the spotlight: an overview of species of